Players: 4+
Type: Social
Drink: Any alcohol

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a hustler at the poker table — and you don’t want to be the one drinking the most! — why not set up a knock-out poker tournament with your mates. Then you can take them to school using all the tricks of the trade that you’ve learned to outwit your pals and ensure you feel fresh and (moderately) sober the following morning.

All the equipment you’ll need is included here:

• A deck of cards
• A table big enough for all the players to sit around
• Poker chips
• A dealer button

Knock-out poker takes the form of a sit-and-go poker tournament when playing with your friends. You each start with a specific amount of chips and play until there is a last man or woman standing — with those who are knocked out in the process being required to consume a specific amount of an alcoholic drink as a punishment for their failure!

Standard sit-and-go Texas Hold’em poker tournament rules dictate that the players take turns to being the dealer, with the small and big blinds sitting to the left of the dealer at all times.

For instance, if you opt to start with 1,000 chips each, we suggest using 10 as the small blind and 20 as the big blind. Feel free to up the blinds as and when players get knocked out and the chip stacks begin to rise.

The rules for Knock-out poker include:

• If a player loses a hand in a showdown against a pair of aces, three-of-a-kind aces, or four-of-a-kind aces, they are required to drink a shot.
• If a player wins a hand in a showdown with a full house, they can either give a shot to the loser of the hand to drink or select another opponent if they wish.
• In the event a player gets knocked out of the game and loses all their chips, they are required to down a drink agreed to by all the players before the tournament begins.
• When the tournament reaches its climax and there is a heads-up contest between the two remaining players, they must take a sip of their drink every time they lose a hand. This incentivizes players to bluff and mess with their opponent to avoid the drink!
• At the end of the game, when the runner-up loses all of their chips to the eventual winner, they must also down a drink as stated previously.
• This is a really cool twist on a night in of playing poker with your mates. It puts heaps of pressure on almost every hand you play, forcing you into making some outrageous plays at times. Just make sure that you don’t bluff too much, as your friends may never believe you when you’re trying to pull a fast one!

As always, please remember to drink responsibly! This alcohol-based drinking game is not meant to make you sick due to over-consumption of alcohol. If you enjoy it, please leave feedback in the comments. Or let us know how we can make it better.